The Greek dishes to try in Athens run from hearty moussaka, souvlaki and gyros to flaky spanakopita, fresh Greek salad and tzatziki, and sweet baklava and loukoumades. Build a delicious food walk into your trip with skip-the-line sightseeing tickets and tours from My Greece Tours for the perfect mix of monuments and meals.
Great food is one of the joys of the Athens travel guide. The sections below cover the must-try mains, grilled meats, savoury starters, salads and dips, seafood, desserts and where to eat them.
What Greek dishes should you try in Athens?
The essential Greek dishes to try in Athens include moussaka, souvlaki and gyros, pastitsio, spanakopita and tiropita pies, Greek salad (horiatiki), tzatziki and other dips, grilled seafood, and sweets such as baklava and loukoumades. Together these classic dishes, found in tavernas, bakeries and street stalls across the city, offer the full range of traditional Greek cooking.
Greek food alone is reason enough to visit Athens, and the city is the perfect place to taste the full repertoire of classic Greek cooking, from hearty baked casseroles to fresh salads, grilled meats and honey-soaked sweets. The Athenian table is built on superb ingredients, sun-ripened vegetables, fragrant olive oil, herbs, fresh fish, lamb and pork, tangy feta and creamy yoghurt, transformed into dishes that are at once simple, generous and deeply satisfying. Over the following sections, this guide picks out the essential dishes every visitor should try, including the iconic moussaka and pastitsio, the beloved street foods souvlaki and gyros, the flaky savoury pies, the famous Greek salad and meze dips, the seafood of the coast, and the irresistible desserts. You will find these foods everywhere, from humble street stalls and corner bakeries to traditional family tavernas and stylish modern restaurants, often at very reasonable prices, so eating well in Athens is easy on any budget. Sampling your way through these classics is one of the great pleasures of a trip, and the best souvenir of all is the memory of the flavours. It complements the cheap-eats focus of the Athens street food guide. The iconic baked dishes are the place to start.
What are the must-try main dishes?
The iconic Greek main dishes to try are moussaka, a baked casserole of layered aubergine, minced meat and potato topped with béchamel, and pastitsio, a baked pasta dish of tubular pasta with minced meat sauce and béchamel. Other classics include gemista (stuffed vegetables), stifado (beef stew), kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb) and yemista, all hearty, comforting and full of flavour.
At the heart of traditional Greek cooking are the hearty, comforting baked main dishes that fill the tavernas of Athens, and the most iconic of all is moussaka. This rich, layered casserole combines slices of aubergine with a spiced minced-meat and tomato filling, sometimes with potato, all crowned by a thick, golden béchamel sauce and baked until set, then served in generous squares; it is perhaps the single most famous Greek dish and a must-try. Its close cousin is pastitsio, often called Greek lasagne, which layers long tubular pasta with the same kind of seasoned minced-meat sauce and a creamy béchamel topping, baked to a comforting golden crust. Beyond these two giants, the Greek kitchen offers many other satisfying mains worth seeking out: gemista, vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers stuffed with herbed rice and baked; stifado, a fragrant beef and onion stew slow-cooked with spices; and kleftiko, lamb slow-roasted until meltingly tender, often wrapped in paper or cooked in a sealed pot. These dishes, redolent of olive oil, herbs and slow cooking, represent home-style Greek food at its most generous and are best enjoyed in a traditional taverna. They reward a hearty appetite. The grilled meats are equally beloved. The street-food classics come next.
What are souvlaki and gyros?
Souvlaki and gyros are Greece’s most popular grilled-meat dishes. Souvlaki is small pieces of meat, usually pork or chicken, grilled on a skewer; gyros is meat slow-roasted on a vertical rotisserie and shaved off. Both are commonly served wrapped in pita with tomato, onion, fried potato and tzatziki, and the best in Athens are found on “souvlaki row” near Monastiraki.
No culinary tour of Athens is complete without the city’s beloved grilled meats, souvlaki and gyros, which are at once everyday street food and a genuine national obsession. Souvlaki, whose name means “little skewer”, consists of small chunks of marinated meat, most often pork, the local favourite, or chicken, threaded onto a skewer and grilled over charcoal until smoky and juicy. Gyros, meaning “to turn”, is made from seasoned meat stacked on a tall vertical rotisserie and slowly roasted as it rotates, with the crisp outer layer shaved off in thin slices. Both are most popularly served as a wrap, rolled in a warm, soft pita together with sliced tomato, raw onion, a handful of crisp fried potatoes and a generous spoonful of cool, garlicky tzatziki, making a delicious and filling meal for just a few euros; they can also be ordered on a plate with sides. The undisputed home of Athenian souvlaki is the cluster of grill houses known as “souvlaki row” near Monastiraki Square, where the charcoal smoke and the queues mark out the best spots. Cheap, tasty and quintessentially Greek, these grills are a must. The full street-food picture appears in the Athens street food guide. The savoury starters are just as tempting.
What savoury pies, salads and dips should you try?
Try the savoury pies spanakopita (spinach and feta) and tiropita (cheese), wrapped in flaky filo pastry, the classic Greek salad (horiatiki) of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta with olive oil and oregano, and the dips tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber and garlic), melitzanosalata (aubergine) and taramosalata, usually scooped up with fresh bread.
Greek meals are built around an array of irresistible starters, pies, salads and dips that are often the highlight of the table. The savoury pies are essential eating: spanakopita, a flaky parcel of crisp filo pastry filled with spinach, feta, onions and herbs, and tiropita, its cheese-filled cousin, are sold everywhere from bakeries to tavernas and make a perfect snack or starter. No meal is complete without a Greek salad, or horiatiki, the famous “village salad” of ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, red onion and Kalamata olives, crowned with a thick slab of feta cheese and simply dressed with good olive oil and a sprinkle of oregano, a dish whose quality depends entirely on its superb ingredients. Alongside come the meze dips, designed to be scooped up with fresh bread: cool, garlicky tzatziki made from strained yoghurt, cucumber and herbs; smoky melitzanosalata of mashed aubergine; the pink, tangy taramosalata of cured fish roe; and fiery tirokafteri of spicy whipped feta. Ordering several of these to share is the classic Athenian way to begin, or indeed to make a whole light meal of meze. Fresh, vibrant and full of flavour, these dishes capture the essence of Greek cooking. They pair perfectly with an ouzo or a glass of wine. Seafood is a coastal speciality.
What seafood and desserts should you try?
For seafood, try grilled octopus, fried small fish (such as gavros), calamari, shrimp saganaki and the fresh catch of the day, best near the coast or markets. For dessert, sample baklava, layers of filo, nuts and honey syrup, loukoumades, honey-soaked fried dough balls, galaktoboureko custard pie, and Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts, all classic sweet endings.
Greece’s long coastline means seafood is a cornerstone of the cuisine, and Athens, close to the sea and its port, is a fine place to enjoy it. Among the must-try dishes are grilled octopus, tenderised and charred over coals and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, a classic accompaniment to ouzo; crisp fried small fish such as gavros (anchovies) and marides (whitebait), eaten whole; golden fried or grilled calamari; shrimp saganaki cooked with tomato and feta; and, of course, the fresh fish of the day, simply grilled and dressed with lemon and oil, best sought near the coast, the marinas of Piraeus or the central fish market. To finish, Greek desserts are gloriously sweet and satisfying. Baklava layers crisp filo pastry with chopped nuts and is drenched in honey syrup; loukoumades, the famous honey-soaked fried dough balls dusted with cinnamon and nuts, have been sold in Athens since antiquity; galaktoboureko encases creamy semolina custard in syrupy filo; and the simplest pleasure of all is a bowl of thick, tangy Greek yoghurt drizzled with honey and scattered with walnuts. Sampling these completes the full sweep of Greek flavours. Together, seafood and sweets round out the Athenian feast. The seafood tradition continues in the Piraeus guide. Knowing where to eat ensures the best experience.
Where should you eat these dishes in Athens?
Eat traditional Greek dishes in the tavernas of Plaka, Psiri, Koukaki and Pangrati, grab souvlaki and pies around Monastiraki and the Central Market, and try modern Greek cuisine in Koukaki and Kolonaki. For the best value and authenticity, walk a few streets back from the main tourist squares and choose busy, family-run tavernas favoured by locals.
Knowing where to find these classic dishes turns a good meal into a great one, and Athens offers superb options across every neighbourhood and budget. For traditional taverna cooking, the moussaka, grilled meats, pies and meze, the atmospheric old quarters of Plaka and lively Psiri are full of family-run tavernas, while the up-and-coming Koukaki near the Acropolis Museum and the artsy Pangrati district are beloved by locals for their authentic and creative kitchens. For the best souvlaki, gyros and savoury pies, head to “souvlaki row” near Monastiraki and the bakeries and stalls around the bustling Varvakios Central Market on Athinas Street, which is also the place for the freshest seafood. For a more contemporary take on Greek cuisine, the modern restaurants of Koukaki, Kolonaki and Pangrati reinvent traditional flavours with flair. The single most useful tip for both value and authenticity is to walk a few streets away from the main tourist squares, where prices climb and quality can dip, and to choose the busy, unpretentious tavernas full of Greek families, a reliable sign of good, honest food. With this approach, every meal in Athens can be a delight. A fuller survey appears in the best restaurants in Athens guide. The questions below cover the points visitors ask most.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous Greek dish to try in Athens?
The most famous Greek dish to try in Athens is moussaka, a baked casserole of layered aubergine, spiced minced meat and potato topped with creamy béchamel. Other essentials include souvlaki and gyros, pastitsio, spanakopita, Greek salad with feta, tzatziki, grilled seafood, and sweets like baklava and loukoumades.
What should vegetarians eat in Athens?
Vegetarians in Athens can enjoy spanakopita (spinach pie), Greek salad with feta, dips like tzatziki, melitzanosalata and fava, gemista (stuffed vegetables), gigantes (baked giant beans), dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), and grilled vegetables and cheese such as saganaki. Many tavernas offer plenty of meat-free meze dishes ideal for sharing.
Where is the best traditional food in Athens?
The best traditional Greek food in Athens is found in the family-run tavernas of Plaka, Psiri, Koukaki and Pangrati, with great souvlaki and pies around Monastiraki and the Central Market. For value and authenticity, walk a few streets back from the tourist squares and choose busy tavernas full of locals.